Politics & Government

Lake County Has Live Traffic iPhone App

New app tells iPhone users which roads to avoid in Lake County.

An iPhone app that lets motorists view real time road conditions is now available through Lake County PASSAGE (Program Arterial Signal Synchronization and Travel Guidance), a project of the Lake County Division of Transportation.

“It helps us by getting the word out as far as incidents, construction and travel conditions. Users are able to report back to us incidents such as a stall blocking a lane or traffic signal not working,” said John Nelson, engineer of traffic for the Lake County Division of Transportation.

As of Feb. 25, there were 360 downloads of the application, Nelson said. The iPhone app became available Feb. 8.

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Users can view a map of current conditions. Red flags alert motorists of traffic events, such as accidents or blocked lanes due to road construction.  The map includes real time congestions information with green roads indicating fast travel, yellow, delayed; and red, slow travel. Users can drop a pin for a current location to get nearby road incidents. An event list allows users to read a text version of traffic issues.

The camera icon on the map allows users to tap on one major intersections and view what the road actually looks like.  Nelson said there are about 200 cameras and they take photos every five minutes.

Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Bluffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For those who prefer to listen to the traffic conditions, the application allows users to listen to Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) 1620 AM.

Users can also report incidents to PASSAGE as well as share a photo of a crash or other traffic incident. Nelson said, so far, there have been eight users who have relayed traffic information.

Residents can find the iPhone app by typing in Lake County PASSAGE in the search feature of their app store or download the app from the PASSAGE website. The app is free.

Commuters without an iPhone can find the same information on the Lake County PASSAGE website.


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